5 Critical Considerations While Buying Life Insurance for a Divorce

Regardless of whether you are happy or sad about divorcing your spouse, settling your affairs legally can stir up a roller coaster of emotions. The good news is securing the required life insurance policy is simple if you know where to turn.

I’d like to share with you 5 tips you should consider when shopping for the life insurance coverage your attorney has asked you to provide. You may be feeling overwhelmed with and unsure of how to take care of this properly. As a practicing life insurance agent, I’ve helped several clients satisfy their life insurance for divorce requirements in a simple and stress-free fashion.

5 important divorce life insurance considerations:

Timeframe

Coverage Limits

Coverage Length

Ownership

Beneficiaries

Timeframe

Most of us these days are living fast paced lives. Taking the time out to get life insurance coverage for your divorce settlement is likely not something you are thrilled about doing. The best way to save time buying your life insurance would be to work with a broker whom is not only independent but offers no exam life insurance. No exam options are ideal when setting up life insurance for your divorce settlement.

Coverage Limits

Your attorney will tell you how much life insurance you need for the divorce settlement. This is usually calculated to include alimony or child support payments should you pass away. Companies that offer express issue plans will offer you up to $500,000 in coverage before requiring an exam. If you need to carry more than $500,000 you have the option of taking an exam or purchasing two no exam plans. Keep in mind the exam options traditionally take a good 30-60 days.

Coverage Length

The divorce settlement life insurance requirement will likely specify how long you are supposed to maintain the coverage. Life insurance can be purchased in 10, 15, 20 or 3o year terms or as a lifetime plan.

Ownership

There should be a negotiation during the divorce process that will help determine who is going to own and pay for the required life insurance policy. Unless otherwise stated in your life insurance application, the insured will be the owner and be responsible for making premium payments. If within your settlement negotiations, it’s best for the ex-spouse to have access and control of the plan they can be named as the owner. This usually means they are responsible for the payments as well.

Beneficiaries

Similar to the negotiating of ownership, there should be some discussion on whether or not the beneficiaries listed should be irrevocable. The benefit to doing this would be to ensure the plan that is initially set up is not altered later and all parties hold their end of the arrangement. Divorces can be messy. Making sure the ex-spouse and children are protected should be a priority but that doesn’t always happen.

Final thoughts

Securing life insurance for divorce is painless when you work with an experienced broker who can oversee the process and make sure there are no bumps in the road. You don’t need any more headaches as you work to wrap up your divorce settlement!

About the author

Melissa Schreur is an agent with noexam.com. She is passionate about helping her clients secure life insurance to protect their loved ones from financial catastrophe. With a Certified Insurance Counselor designation, 13yrs of experience and licenses nationwide she works hard to ensure her clients go through the process as quickly and easy as possible.